Latch assembly



May 4, 1954 W. o. BURKE 2,677,566

LATCH ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 25, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 4, 1954 w. o.BURKE 2,677,566

LATCH ASSEMBLY Filed Sept. 25, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l A I I Mll/17?,5w/271:0

2O 27 n y Patented May 4, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LATCHASSEMBLY ration of Delaware Application September 23, 1950, Serial No.186,451

r claims. l

rihe present invention relates to a lock or latch mechanism andespecially to a novel latch assembly ior the door of a refrige'ratfn1 orother cabinet requiring a latching device that is sturdy in constructionand positive in operation.

Among the principal objects or the present invention is the provision ofa novel trip type of latch construction adapted to be mounted Within thedoor or closure of a refrigerator or oiher Cabinet and to receivetherein and engage with a strike hook or keeper mounted upon andprojecting from the' cabinet.-

A further object of the present invention is 'the provision in a latchassembly for the door or closure of a cabinet of a novel trippingmechanism therefor so constructed and arranged that upon release of thelatch member and opening of the door or closure, such latch mem-ber isautomatically moved into cocked position ready to be again tripped uponclosing of the door.

The present invention further coinpiehends the provision in a latchmechanism and assembly for a cabinet of a novel latch means including alatch member normally moved to cocked position when the door or closureis opened and ready to be tripped upon closing of the door or closure,said means being so constructed and arranged that if for any reason thelatch member is uncooked or released from its cocked or trippingposition, latching of the door or closure in its closed position will bepositively effected upon movement of the door or closure to closedposition.

Another important object and feature of the present invention is theprovision of a novel construction and combination of latch assembly in atrip type ci latch for effectively latching and quickly releasing thedoor o'r closure of a refrigerator or other cabinet, the latch assemblyincluding a spring-loaded latch mem-ber mounted for pivotal andlongitudinal movement in the latch housing, a spring-loaded link er ar'malso mounted for pivotal and longitudinal movement in the housing, and abeller-ank lever pivotally mounted in the housing interme'die'it'e4` itsends and having one end pivotally connected to the link or arm and theother end adapted to be engaged by a handle-actuated plunger on the dooror closure, interlocking means' on the arm or link and latch member Vforlatching the latch member in cocked position when the door or closure isopened, and ali-projection on the latch member for tripping thismeinberwhen the door or closure is moved toward closed pesition.

The invention further resides in thev construction, combination andarrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and whilethere is shown therein a preferred embodiment, it is to be understoodthat the same is susceptible of modincation and change, and comprehendsother details, arrangements of parts, features and constructions Withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a View in perspective of a refrigerator to which the novellatch construction and assembly has been applied.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged view in front elevation of the portionof the door or closure housing the latch assembly, the door or closurebeing broken away to show the manner of mounting and positioning of thelatch assembly there- 1n.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged View in horizontal cross sectionthrough the door or closure and showing in plan the frame or housing forthe latch assembly when the door or closure is in closed and latchedposition.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged View in horizontal cross sectionthrough the latch assembly, the upper portion of the frame or housingbeing broken away to show in plan the details of the latch assemblytherein and in the position the parts assume when the open door is beingmoved to closed position with the latch member uncooked and Withoutusing the tripping mechanism in closing.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but with parts broken away andshowing the position of the latch assembly in its normal or regularcocked position in which it is placed when the door is opened and inwhich position it is ready to be tripped as the door is moved towardclosed and latching position.

Fig. 6 is a View in rear elevation of the latch mechanism of Fig. 5, theView being taken on the line E t of Fig. 4 and viewed in the directionof the arrows.

Fig. 7 is a View in verticalvcross section taken on the irregular line"l-T of Fig. 4 and viewed in the direction of the arrows.

Referring more particularly to the disclosure in the drawings and to thenovel embodiment therein selected to illustrate the present invention,the present illustrative embodiment of the latch construction is shownas mounted in the door or closure iii for a refrigerator or othercabinet ll. This door or closure is pivoted or hinged along its oppositevertical edge i2 and provided with a gasket or sealing strip i3 (Figs.3, e and 5*) 3 adapted to engage and seal against the face i4 of thedoor jamb I5 defining the usual refrigerating compartment in the cabinetii.

Secured to the side or door j amb i5 is a mounting or support I for astrike hook or keeper i? projecting outwardly and forwardly therefromand provided with a latch engaging face i3. This door or closure l isgenerally of metal and provided with spaced inner and outer walls l@ and20, and a face plate 2| having an opening 22 into which the hook orkeeper l? and its mounting or support I3 project when the door is inclosed position.

The novel latch mechanism is disposed within the hollow of the door andcomprises a substantially U-shaped housing or frame 23 having oppositelydisposed ears or projections 'f2-5, 2li on the ends of the oppositesides 25 of the housing or frame 23 and with these ears or projectionsIanchored or rigidly secured to an inturned flange 26 on the inner wallof the door or closure by bolts or other securing means, and an offsetbase 2l secured to or anchored upon the interior of the front or outerwal1 23 by any suitable securing means. The latch engaging face l of thestrike hook or keeper il is adapted to be engaged by a roller 28 carriedby and journalled in upstanding projections 29 on the laterally spacedarms 3l of a latch member 32. These laterally spaced arms or sidemembers 3| are each provided with an elongated and longitudinallyextending slot 33 in the inner or rear end 34 thereof adapted to looselyreceive a cross pin or rivet 35 having its ends disposed or secured inthe spaced walls or sides 25 of the U-shaped housing or frame 23,whereby this latch member is longitudinally as well as pivotally orrotatably movable about the cross pin or rivet 35.

Mounted adjacent the latch member 32 and disposed intermediate itsspaced arms 3E is a li -k 36 having its inner or rear end 3'. providedwith a longitudinal elongated slot 33 for loosely receive ing a crosspin or rivet 39 having its opposite ends disposed and secured in theopposite sides or walls 25 of the housing or frame 23. The outer,enlarged end 43 of this link 35 is recessed or concaved at 4| and alsotherebeneath at fil, and rearwardly of the recess or .concavity 4,! andabove the recess or concavity die the link. is connected by a cross pin42 to an end 43 of the spaced arms 44 of a bifurcated bellcrank leverpivotally mounted upon a cross -pin or rivet secured in the oppositeside walls 25 of the housing or frame 23. The other end of the bellcranklever 45 is of substantially U-shape with the base 41 thereof disposedadjacent to and in a position where it may be engaged by the inner endof a plunger i3 (see Fig. 3) the outer end of which is actuated ordepressed by an inward pressure applied by a handle A.

The latch member 32 is spring-loaded and biased toward its forwardposition in which the cross pin or rivet 35 is disposed to the rear ofthe slot 33 (see Figs. 3 and 5) by a coil spring 43 hav ing one of itsends engaging the rear of the pin 39 and the other end engaging the rearedge of a cross piece on the base of the latch member 32. The link 35 isalso spring-loaded and biased or urged toward its forward position by arelatively heavy coil spring 5| bearing at one end against the front ofthe cross pin or rivet 3B and at its forward end against a shoulder oroffset 52 whereby when the latch member 32 is released from latchingposition (Fig. 3) upon the operator exerting an inward pressure upon theexposed or outer end of the plunger 48 slidably mounted in a housing 53upon which the handle A is pivotally mounted (Figs. 1 and 3), thelatching roller 28 is retracted and released from the hook strike orkeeper |1 and the recessed end 4| of the link 36 thereupon engages aroller 54 carried upon a cross pin or rivet 55 bridging the spaced arms3| of the lock or latch member 32.

In this position (i. e. the roller 54 seating in the recess 4| in thelink 35) the latch is in its cocked position as shown in Fig. 5,whereupon moving the door or closure |B toward closed position causesthe forwardly and downwardly bent lip or tongue 56 on the forward end ofthe latch member 32 to engage or contact the rounded outer end 51 of thestrike hook or keeper and when this lip or tongue is depressed by suchengagement and continued inward pressure exerte against the door, theroller 54 is forced out of and disengaged from the recess 4| of the link35 and the roller 28 in the spring-loaded or spring-biased latch member32 is moved forwardly and into engagement with the face |8 of the strikehook or keeper H, whereby the door is maintained closed and latcheduntil again manually reopened. In the closed and latched position, theroller 54 is disposed in the lower recess or concavity lia of theforward end of the link or arm 3E.

Although the latch is automatically moved to cocked position when thedoor or closure is opened by means of the plunger 48 engaging andtilting the bellcrank lever 45 and causing the upper end 43 of thislever to retract the link 36 through the connecting pin 42 (see Fig. 5),if for any reason the latch is not cocked or does not remain in cockedposition when the door is open so that it is not tripped upon closingthe door or closure, the roller 28 on the latch member 32 willnevertheless engage and interlock with the hook strike or keeper whenthe door is fully closed. This is illustrated in Fig. 4 where theposition of the roller 28 is shown in dotted line positions from thetime it engages the strike hook or keeper E? until it is forced onto theface I3 thereof by the coil spring 49. Thus rather than the lip 56engaging the rounded end 5': of the strike hook or keeper to trip thelatch to latching position, the roller 28 engages the strike hook orkeeper Il and is guided thereover into latching position and held insuch position by the coil spring de, which spring-biases the latchmember 32 and its roller 28 to latching position. 'it will be noted thatin this position the roller 54 is not seated in the recess or concavity4| but rather in the recess or concavity 4|a disposed beneath andrearwardly of the recess 4|.

From the above description and the disclosure in the drawings, it willbe apparent that in the operation of the present novel latching meansthe door or closure may be readily opened from the latched positionshown in Fig. 3 by merely move ing the handle A to exert an inwardpressure upon the plunger 48, whereupon the bellcrank lever 45 is tiltedabout its pivotal mounting on the pin or rivet 46 by said plunger andsuch tilting causes the upper end 43 of this bellcrank lever to retractthe link 36 and compress the coil spring 56. Simultaneously the latchmember 32 is tilted or pivoted in a clockwise direction (see Fig. 5) bymeans of the coil spring 49, the upper end of which has been forcedrearwardly by the cross pins 39 and the other end forwardly and byreason of its contact with the cross piece 50 the latch member 32 iscaused to rotate or pivot about its pivotal mounting on the cross pin35. Such pivotal movement of the latch member V32 releases the roller 28from the strike hook or keeper il and brings the roller 54 into therecess 4I of the link Sii where it is normally held in cocked positionso long as the door remains open (see Fig. 5).

When the door is again moved to closed position, the lip or tongue 56 inthe cocked position (Fig. 5) will be tripped upon engaging the outerrounded end 5l of the strike hook or keeper Il, removing the roller 54from the recess 4l whereby to release the link 3B and allow the latchmember iig to move its roller 28 to latching engagement. if for anyreason the latch member is not in cocked position (Fig. 4), closing ofthe door will nevertheless cause the roller 28 to ride over the strikehook or zeeper Il and engage and latch against the face I8 thereof.

Thus it will be seen that the present invention comprehends theprovision of a novel latch mechanism and assembly that is positive inoperation and novel in construction.

Having thus disclosed the invention, I claim:

i. in a latch assembly for the door oi a refrigerator cabinet having akeeper mounted upon and projecting from the cabinet, a latch assemblymounted in the door and adapted to receive the keeper when the door ismoved to closed position, said latch assembly including a housing,spaced pivots in said housing, a spring-loaded latch member pivotallyand slidably mounted adjacent one end in the housing on one of saidpivots and having a roller adjacent the other end for latchingengagement with the keeper, a spring-loaded link member also pivotallyand slidably mounted adjacent one end on the other pivot of the housingbut in spaced relation with the mounting of the latch member, ahand-actuated plunger mounted the door, a bellcrank lever pivotallymounted in the housing and connected to the link and adapted to beactuated by the plunger by inward pressure exerted by the handle, andinterengaging surfaces on the link and latch member for engaging andholding the latch in cocked position when the door is opened.

2. In a latch assembly for the door of a cabinet or other enclosurehaving a keeper mounted upon and projecting from the cabinet, latchmechanism mounted in the door and adapted to engage the keeper and latchthe door in closed position, said latch mechanism including a housing, aspring-loaded latch member pivotally and longitudinally movable in thehousing and having a latching part adapted to engage the keeper when thedoor is closed, a spring-loaded member pivotally and longitudinallymovable in the housing, a plunger slidably mounted in the door, a handleon the door adapted to engage and apply an inward pressure to theplunger, a bellcrank pivotally mounted in the housing and having one endconnected to the spring-loaded member and the other end adapted to beengaged by the inward movement of the plunger whereby said bellcrank isrotated to move said spring-loaded member in a direction to compress itsspring and disengage the latching part from the keeper, and a recess onsaid spring-loaded member and a roller on said latch member adapted tobe received in said recess when the bellcrank is moved inwardly tounlock the latch member and holding the latter in cocked position andready to be tripped upon closing of the door.

3. in a latch assembly for the door of a cabinet or other enclosurehaving a keeper mounted upon and projecting from the cabinet, latchmechanism mounted in the door and adapted to engage the keeper and latchthe door in closed position, said latch mechanism including a housing, aspring-loaded latch member pivotally and longitudinally movable in thehousing and having a latching part adapted to engage the keeper when thedoor is closed and a part intermediate its ends for retaining the latchmember in cocked position when the door is opened and ready to betripped when the door is moved to closed position, a spring-loaded linkpivotally and longitudinally movable in the housing, a plunger slidablymounted in the door, a handle on the door adapted to engage and apply aninward pressure to the plunger, a bellcrank pivotally mounted in thehousing and pivotally connected to the link and adapted to be engaged bythe inward movement of the plunger whereby said bellcrank is rotated tomove said link in a direction to compress its spring and disengage thelatching part from the keeper, and a recess in an end of the linkadapted to receive the retaining part of the latch member when theplunger moves the bellcrank tounlock the latch member and retain thelatch member in cocked position and ready to 'se tripped upon closing ofthe door.

4. In a latch construction for retaining a closure member in closed andlatched position with a cabinet member and when the closure member isopened the latch is automatically moved to cocked position ready to vbetripped to engage a keeper on one of said members upon closing ci theclosure member, a latch assembly on the other member adapted tointerlock with the keeper when said members are in closed position andincluding a housing, spaced pivots in said housing, a spring-loadedlatch member mounted in the housing on one of said pivots for pivotaland longitudinal movement adjacent one end and having a roller at itsother end adapted to engage the keeper and maintain the members inclosed position, a spring-loaded arm pivotally mounted on the other ofsaid pivots in the housing adjacent one end and longitudinally movabletherein, a bellcrank pivotally mounted in the housing and having one endconnected to said arms, an actuating plunger mounted in the closuremember and adapted to engage and rock the bellcrank to disengage theroller of the latch member from the keeper, cooking means including arecess at the other end of the arm and a projection on the latch memberintermediate its ends for positioning and retaining the latch member incocked position when the closure member is moved to open position, and atripping projection on the latch member for engaging the keeper andtripping the cooking means when the closure member is moved towardclosed position.

5. In latching mechanism of the trip type for eiiectively latching andquickly releasing the door of a refrigerator cabinet from a hook keeper,a frame support, spaced pivots in said support, a spring-loaded latchmember mounted for pivotal and longitudinal movement in said support onone of said pivots and having a part for locking engagement with thekeeper, a spring-loaded link also mounted adjacent its one end forpivotal and longitudinal movement in said support on the other pivot, abellcrank lever pivotally mounted in said support intermediate its endsand having one end connected to the link, a handle and a plunger on thedoor with the plunger adapted to engage the other end of the lever wheninward pressure is applied thereto by the handle, interlocking meansincluding a recess in the other end of the link and a part on the latchmember adapted to seat in said recess for locking the latch member incocked position when the door is opened, and a projection on the latchmember for tripping said latch member when the door is moved towardclosed position.

6. In latching mechanism of the trip type for eiectively latching andquickly releasing the door of a refrigerator cabinet from a hook keeper,a frame support, a latch member mounted adjacent one end for pivotalmovement in said support and having a part at its other end for latchingengagement With the keeper, a spring-loaded link member mounted forlongitudinal movement in said support, a bellcrank pivotally mounted insaid support and connected to the other end of the link member,manually-actuated means on the door adapted to engage and rock thebellcrank and move the link member against the action of the spring, andinterlocking parts on the link and latch members for latching the latterin cocked position when the door is opened, said interlocking partsincluding a recess in one of said members at an end thereof and aprojection on the other member intermediate its ends adapted to bereceived in said recess for holding the latch member in cocked position.

7. In latching mechanism of the trip type for electively latching andquickly releasing the door of a refrigerator cabinet from a hook keeper,

a frame support, spaced pivots in said support, a latch member mountedadjacent one end on one of said pivots for pivotal movement in saidsupport and having a part at its other end for latching engagement Withthe keeper, a springloaded link member mounted for longitudinal movementin said support on said other pivot, a bellcrank pivotally mounted insaid support and connected to the other end of the link member,manually-actuated means on the door adapted to engage and rock thebellcrank and move the link member against the action of the spring, andinterlocking parts on the link and latch members for latching the latterin cocked position when the door is opened, said interlocking partsincluding a pair of recesses disposed in ollset relation in one of saidmembers and a projection on the other member adapted to be received inone of said recesses for holding the latch member in cocked position andadapted to be received in the other recess when the latch member is inuncooked position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,385,961 Anderson Oct. 2, 1945 2,440,162 Anderson Apr. 20,1948 2,444,180 Anderson June 29, 1948

